THE IMPERIAL PRESIDENCY

Obama amnesty takes another hit in court

Judges affirm injunction against executive order-driven program

A panel of three judges on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
affirmed a lower court’s order halting President Obama’s executive
action delaying deportation for up to 5 million illegal aliens.
The 5th Circuit denied a motion to stay the injunction and narrow its
scope because, determining the government is unlikely to succeed on the
merits of its appeal.
The opinion said the government’s action “makes aliens who were not
otherwise qualified for federal public benefits eligible for ‘social
security retirement benefits, security disability benefits, [and] health
insurance under Part A of the Medicare program.’”
“Further, ‘each person who applies for deferred action pursuant to
the [DAPA] criteria … shall also be eligible to apply for work
authorization for the [renewable three-year] period of deferred
action.’”
Such procedures would allow illegal aliens to “‘obtain a Social
Security Number,’ ‘accrue quarters of covered employment,’ and ‘correct
wage records to add prior covered employment,’” the opinion said.
It warned that should the program ultimately struck down, the illegal aliens who participated would have benefited improperly.The injunction, the judges said, preserves the status quo.
“Under the injunction, DHS can choose whom to remove first; the only
thing it cannot do is grant class-wide lawful presence and eligibility
for accompanying benefits as incentives for low-priority aliens to
self-identify in advance,” the court said.The ruling Tuesday, 26 May, upheld the injunctionissued by U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen.
His preliminary injunction in February said: “The United States of
America, its departments, agencies, officers, agents and employees and
Jeh Johnson, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security; R. Gil
Kerlikowske, commissioner of United States customs and Border
Protection; Ronald D. Vitiello, deputy chief of United States Border
Patrol, United States Customs and Border Protection; Thomas S.
Winkowski, acting director of United States Immigration and Customs
Enforcement; and Leon Rodriguez, director of United States Citizenship
and Immigration Services are hereby enjoined from implementing any and
all aspects or phases of the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans
and Lawful Permanent Residents.”
Hanen later refused a government request to lift his order halting Obama’s DAPA program.
The appeals court ruling marks a huge setback for Obama’s strategy of
giving millions of Democrat-leaning illegals a pathway to legal
residency, Social Security numbers and other benefits, including critics
say, voting rights.David
Limbaugh’s book chillingly documents the destructive “transformation”
of the United States — get “The Great Destroyer: Barack Obama’s War on
the Republic”
The case was brought by 26 states, led by Texas.
The judge released documentation of what he described as the government’s misleading statements, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Hanen’s ruling followed tense exchanges in court between government
lawyers and the judge. Hanen had expressed frustration with the
government for failing to inform him that officials had given deferred
action to 108,000 applicants shortly after Obama announced his plan in
November.
“The court expects all parties, including the government of the
United States, to act in a forthright manner and not hide behind
deceptive representations and half-truths,” Hanen wrote.
Attorneys for the 26 states are arguing Obama’s executive action causes “irreparable harm” to their local interests.WND reported Hanen ordered,
at the time, the government to explain why federal officials had
approved tens of thousands of three-year exemptions between Nov. 24,
2014, and Hanen’s injunction.
Hanen’s order, Feb. 16, did not block a 2012 plan that offers amnesty
to those who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children.
But that program doesn’t provide for three-year exemptions, only
two-year exemptions. The new exemptions are part of the administration’s
November orders, which are the subject of the current case.
The Texas case was joined by Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who has a
similar case before a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C..
Hanen’s order faulted the Obama amnesty plan because officials failed to comply with the Administrative Procedures Act.
Meanwhile, Obama, according to the Washington Times, told a Miami
crowd he would move ahead with his executive action on immigration and
vowed his administration would become even more aggressive in the weeks
and months to come.
A filing from attorney Larry Klayman of Freedom Watch
noted Obama said: “This is just one federal judge. We have appealed it
very aggressively. We’re going to be as aggressive as we can.”
Wrote Klayman: “The Obama administration is continuing to signal not
only its disagreement with the court’s order, which is its right, but
beyond that its non-compliance with the court’s order.”
The Texas lawsuit was filed when the states suddenly faced massive
new demands for public services such as schooling and health care from
foreigners who previously had been subject to deportation.Hanen granted a preliminary injunction that prevents the government from enforcing the Obama administration’s immigration orders. The ruling also confirmed WND’s exclusive report
that, contrary to popular perception, the order to delay deportation
was not an executive order by the president. Instead, it was a
memorandum issued by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh
Johnson at Obama’s direction.
Klayman even noted that according to a Weekly Standard report, Obama
was threatening “consequences” for federal employees who followed the
judge’s order instead of the amnesty memos from Johnson.
That report quoted Obama saying: “Until we pass a law through
Congress, the executive actions we’ve taken are not going to be
permanent; they are temporary. There are going to be some jurisdictions
and there may be individual ICE official or Border Control agent not
paying attention to our new directives. But they’re going to be
answerable to the head of Homeland Security because he’s been very clear
about what our priorities will be.”
He continued, “If somebody’s working for ICE … and they don’t follow the policy, there’s going to be consequences to it.”
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., at the time described the
administration’s action as “another program that has not been authorized
by law.”
“There’s been no sense at all by President Obama, the Department of
Home Security [Secretary] Jeh Johnson, the Democratic members of this
Congress, no concern about the employment prospects of lawful
immigrants, green card holders and native-born Americans,” Sessions told
the Times. “The first thing we should do is be focusing on getting jobs
for Americans that are unemployed. Are we going to keep Americans on
welfare and benefits while we bring in more and more foreigners to take
jobs when we’ve got Americans ready and willing to take those jobs?”Sen Ted Cruz, R-Texas, also raised the issue of compliance with the court order.“Violating an unambiguous federal court order by defying its
instructions to cease and desist a particular activity would represent a
significant breach of your authority, and would be an escalation in
abuse of our separation of powers,” Cruz wrote to administration
officials. “For a president and his cabinet to telegraph intent to
violate a federal court order requires additional scrutiny from
Congress.”
But administration officials were unabashed in their intent.
The Washington Times said Cecilia Munoz, White House domestic policy
director, addressed the issue: “It’s important to put [Hanen's order] in
context, because the broader executive actions are moving forward. The
administration continues to implement the portions of the actions that
the president and the Department of Homeland Security took, which were
not affected by the court’s ruling.”
Even Obama himself said, however, he couldn’t grant amnesty alone.House Speaker John Boehner has listed 22 times when Obama has made such statements.
For example, in October 2010, Obama said: “I am president, I am not
king. I can’t do these things just by myself. … I’ve got to have some
partners to do it. … If Congress has laws on the books that says that
people who are here who are not documented have to be deported, then I
can exercise some flexibility in terms of where we deploy our resources,
to focus on people who are really causing problems as opposed to
families who are just trying to work and support themselves. But there’s
a limit to the discretion that I can show because I am obliged to
execute the law. … I can’t just make the laws up by myself.”WND also reported when yet another a federal judge in Pennsylvania declared the amnesty unconstitutional.
“President Obama’s unilateral legislative action violates the
separation of powers provided for in the United States Constitution as
well as the Take Care Clause and, therefore, is unconstitutional,” said U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Schwab.
The judge noted Obama “contended that although legislation is the
most appropriate course of action to solve the immigration debate, his
executive action was necessary because of Congress’ failure to pass
legislation, acceptable to him, in this regard.”
“This proposition is arbitrary and does not negate the requirement
that the November 20, 2014, executive action be lawfully within the
president’s executive authority,” the judge wrote. “It is not.”

(By Bob Unruh, WND) He has spent nearly three decades with the
Associated Press (AP), as well as several Upper Midwest newspapers, where he
covered everything from legislative battles and sports to tornadoes and
homicidal survivalists. He is also a photographer whose scenic work has
been used commercially.

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